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Southern giant petrels AAT

Entry ID: sgp_census_a

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Summary

Abstract: The data set is a compilation of all available information on counts of Southern giant petrel populations at three locations in the Australian Antarctic Territory (specifically the Frazier Islands, Giganteus Island and Hawker Island).

Data (location, date, count, count unit, method, collator, reference) were gathered from the published literature. Where questions arose about the data, ... eg when the methods were unclear, we attempted to contact the collators of the information in person to verify when and how the counts were conducted. The difficulty was that even within a season notes could be collated by different personnel. As names were not always noted it was often impossible to establish who had made a certain observation. We searched permit records and also checked station leaders' annual reports, field trip reports, biology logs and any other source of information we could find. Finally, we also obtained the records of banded Southern Giant petrels from the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme (ABBBS, Department for the Environment, Canberra).

All information was entered into a spreadsheet noting dates, counts, units of counts, methods and whether or not they could be verified, as well as any comments made either in the field notes or log books or by researchers who we contacted directly.

The downloadable dataset contains an excel spreadsheet of compiled data, plus a list of all literature sources.

Taken from the abstract of the referenced paper:

The determination of the conservation status for a species at risk of extinction is based largely upon consistent change in the population size. In long-lived species, such as seabirds, long-term monitoring is required to establish the extent of the natural variability in a population and to detect true change. As studies spanning several generations within the same population are rare, researchers may turn to historically collected census information to expand the time frame of their studies. While in principle a valid approach, several limitations need to be considered to use historical information appropriately. Census information, collated from the 1950s until present, of three populations of southern giant petrels Macronectus giganteus in the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT) is used to highlight potential limitations inherent in historical data. We demonstrate the importance of census time and count units when investigating potential changes in populations. Published accounts indicate that the numbers of southern giant petrels in the AAT have decreased significantly since their discovery and that more recently some recovery has taken place. However, for two of the three populations we could not find evidence supporting a change.

Related URL

Link: GET DATA

Description: Download point for the data

Geographic Coverage

(Click for Interactive Map)

Spatial coordinates

N: -66.23

S: -66.23

E: 110.17

W: 110.16

N: -67.57

S: -67.58

E: 62.49

W: 62.49

N: -68.63

S: -68.63

E: 77.85

W: 77.85

Temporal Coverage

Start Date: 1956-01-01

Stop Date: 2007-12-31

Location Keywords

OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN

CONTINENT > ANTARCTICA

GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR

Science Keywords

BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > BIRDS > ALBATROSSES/PETRELS AND ALLIES
BIOSPHERE > ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS > SPECIES/POPULATION INTERACTIONS > POPULATION DYNAMICS

ISO Topic Category

BIOTA

ENVIRONMENT

LOCATION

Quality See the referenced paper for more information.

Access Constraints The dataset is available for download from the URL given below.

Use Constraints This data set conforms to the PICCCBY Attribution License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).

Please follow instructions listed in the citation reference at the provided URL when using these data.

Ancillary Keywords

Frazier Islands

Giganteus Island

Data Set Progress

COMPLETE

Data Center

Australian Antarctic Data Centre, Australia

Data Center URL: http://data.aad.gov.au

Data Center Personnel
Name: DATA OFFICER AADC Phone: +61 3 6232 3244 Fax: +61 3 6232 3351 Email: metadata at aad.gov.au Contact Address: Australian Antarctic Division 203 Channel Highway City: Kingston Province or State: Tasmania Postal Code: 7050 Country: Australia

Distribution

Distribution Media: HTTP

Distribution Size: 44 kb

Distribution Format: excel, word

Fees: free

Personnel

BARBARA WIENECKE

Role: INVESTIGATOR

Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT

Role: DIF AUTHOR

Phone: +61 3 6232 3277

Email: barbara.wienecke at aad.gov.au

Contact Address:

Australian Antarctic Division

203 Channel Highway

City: Kingston

Province or State: Tasmania

Postal Code: 7050

Country: Australia

Publications/References

Wienecke B, Leaper R, Hay I, van den Hoff J (2009). Retrofitting historical data in population studies: southern giant petrels in the Australian Antarctic Territory. Endangered Species Research 8: 157-164

Creation and Review Dates

DIF Creation Date: 2009-05-08

Last DIF Revision Date: 2010-04-30

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